Hello, and thank you again for all the wonderful reviews and the patience (what? Posting once a month to this story isn't enough?)

Two very special thank you's: The first, as always, goes to Maia2 for her continued excellent beta-ing. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the second set of eyes you provide!

The second is for Maxandkiz for graciously allowing me to pull from her story "Turning Back Time". It is a charming and clever yarn that I highly recommend! The amusement park scene in this chapter is all hers.

I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters. I think it's pretty clear that they own me.

XOXOXOXO

After dinner Hotch finally convinced Morgan he needed to go home and get ready to leave with the team in the morning. Sending Reid to his room to take his next dose of meds, Hotch walked Morgan to the door and quietly explained that he and Rossi would have to take the lead on this case. He felt it was a bad time to leave Reid alone with his cravings coming back, and he wasn't going to risk the infection coming back from the stress of travel and working a case.

Knowing his current state, Morgan wasn't happy about being asked to leave the kid behind, but he understood his boss' priorities as well. Someone had to go and someone had to stay. This arrangement made the most sense. Morgan was determined to wrap the case up as fast as possible so he could continue watching over his little brother. He made Hotch promise to call with updates or if Reid took a bad turn while they were away.

Hotch made his promises and ushered him out the door. Now he had to figure out how to break it to Reid while minimizing the guilt he was sure to feel over supposedly taking his boss away from a case. Sighing, he made his way to the young man's bedroom.

He found Reid lying in bed, propped up and reading a book. "Tired?" he asked.

Reid looked up from his book and granted, "a little." He kept his attention on his boss sensing he had something he wanted to share.

Now would be the perfect time to break the news to Reid that he was staying, but Hotch didn't want to upset him and possibly prevent his healing coworker from getting a good night's sleep. Instead, looking at his watch he said, "Maybe you should turn in early tonight."

Offering a weak grin, Reid asked, "Is that an order?"

Knowing he was deliberately keeping information from Reid, Hotch missed the humor and unenthusiastically returned with, "I want you to listen to what your body needs right now. If that's a little extra sleep, then you should take it."

Noting Hotch's subdued mood, Reid nodded his head and simply said, "Yes, sir. I'll just finish this book first."

That got a little grin from the older man. The book in question was at least 1000 pages, and Reid was only half way through it. He should be done within the hour, thought Hotch. "That's fine. Sleep well." He gave the young man a sincere pat on the shoulder and shut the door as he left the room.

XOXOXOXO

Reid seemed to float in and out of his 12-year-old self. Sometimes he was watching from outside, but most of the time re-living from inside the horror of that day. The boys running seemingly from every direction. Tackling him to the ground, their sweaty bodies pressed the air out of his lungs. From outside the scrum he could hear the cheers and laughter pouring from the on-lookers.

He couldn't imagine what he had done to deserve this kind of attention. The teasing and occasional shove in the hallways he could handle. But this? He stopped trying to make sense of it when he felt his clothing being ripped from his scrawny body. They were all so big, and there were so many of them, his pleas for mercy were drowned out by their jeers. He tried not to cry, but as the last of the clothing was torn from his body, and he was left naked, he could no longer stop the tears.

But his tormentors were not yet finished with their fun. One of them produced a roll of duct tape while another supplied a long rope. They easily wrestled him to one of the goal posts, wrapped his arms around it, and taped his hands behind his back. He struggled to free himself from this as they wound the rope tightly around his body essentially attaching him to the post. As his ability to move was taken from him, Reid wondered what they planned to do with him next.

To his relief – if that was what it could be called – all they did was point, laugh and make jokes about his helpless body. Soon enough, they became bored and slowly filtered away. He was left alone on the football field watching the sun set as he continued to struggle with his bindings.

It was nearly 10:00 before he freed himself, gathered his tattered clothing about him, and slunk home diving behind trees and bushes whenever he heard a car coming. He wanted nothing more than to run into his mother's arms and let her comfort him.

As he approached his home he was filled with dread. Every light in the house was on. He could see his mother pacing the living room, grabbing at her hair and shaking her head. Moving in closer to the window, he could hear her talking very quickly to someone. He felt the tears well up in his eyes again as he realized he was on his own again tonight. His mother would probably be more normal by tomorrow night, but there would be no comfort for him when he most needed it.

Quietly, he stole around to the back porch and crawled into the hammock he called home on nights like these.

As he cried himself to sleep he looked around at the changing scene. He was in a large bed. A hotel room? He also noticed an intense need to use the facilities. Kicking the covers off he slid his feet to the floor and was shocked at how far he fell. He stood silently for a moment trying to take in the new information. Looking down, he found the body of a 3-year-old.

Some tiny part of his brain told him he was still dreaming, but a much larger part told him he needed to investigate what was going on here. Walking to the door, he reached up to the doorknob and cautiously looked out onto the common area of a hotel suite.

Standing around the room was his BAU team. Everyone was still an adult, and this didn't seem strange at all to Reid.

He looked up at Hotch's back and his boss turned. There was a big grin on the older man's face as he approached, "Good. You're up from your nap. Are you ready to head to the park?" Reid was only a little surprised when Hotch picked him up and placed him in a stroller filled with stuffed animals.

"Here you go, my brave little panda," Garcia handed him a juice box, some string cheese and a few animal crackers.

Reid blinked up at her, "Fant you." He said. That wasn't right. He tried again, quieter this time, "F-fant . . . Fant . . . " Why couldn't he speak correctly?

The stroller started to move out the door, down the hall, and to the door of a van. Morgan strapped his tiny body into a child confinement devise as the rest of the team found their seats. Hotch drove the van, but Reid wasn't able to see out any of the windows. He squirmed a bit trying to push himself up higher.

Emily looked down at the movement and asked, "Are you okay, kiddo? Do you need something?" She looked helplessly up at Morgan who was now paying attention too.

Feeling self-conscious, Reid gave up on the struggle, "No, I'm otay." Again, he crinkled his brow at his mispronunciation. Looking around the van, he realized that no one else seemed to notice. He sighed and decided to see where this was taking him.

As dreams will do he suddenly found himself walking through the gates of a large amusement park. Glancing at the sign overhead his eyes became saucers as he read "Disney World".

"Reid! Get back here!" Morgan yelled, racing after the boy. Swearing under his breath, he muscled his way through the sea of people followed closely by the rest of the team, all searching for any sign of the mop haired youngster. Derek muttered 'excuse me's as he squeezed between and around couples and families. He had to, no he was going to find Spencer and when he did, he was going to kill him for taking off like that. Finally seeing a break in the crowd up ahead, he hurried forward before stopping as he came to a curb lined by several imaginatively dressed scarecrows. The profiler carefully scanned the area around him, letting out a relieved breath when he caught sight of his missing friend standing in front of the Halloween decorations. "Over here!" he called to the others as he hurried to the wayward toddler's side.

Spencer smiled up at his team mates, unaware of the panic he'd caused. "Loot! Awen't fey…" he broke off with a yelp as a firm hand landed a hard swat to his bottom. Spinning around, the little boy looked at the culprit in shock for a moment before turning tear filled eyes on the young blond beside him. "JJ, he hit me!" Reid whined, pointing an accusing finger at Hotch.

JJ leaned down and scooped up the upset toddler. "Spence, you can't run off like that." She gently scolded.

"Wun *sniff* off?" Reid repeated, as he swiped his arm across his face in an attempt to stop the tears that were running down his cheeks. "I just tame ovew hewe to loot at fese."

"Spencer, you cannot go off by yourself, not the way you are now. You could be hurt or worse kidnapped." Hotch angrily told the boy.

"We'we at Disney. Nofing bad tan ha'en hewe." Reid argued.

"Really?" Hotch challenged. "Tell me, what are the statistics for children kidnapped from public places?"

Spencer sighed. "Of the one point five million chil'wen tidnapped each yeaw, seven'y pewcent awe taten from public places. And *sniff* most of the tids tidnapped by stangews awe se…abused and tilled." He recited before turning huge, sad eyes on his boss. "I'm sowwy. I just *sniff* wanted to see."

Taking the toddler from JJ, Hotch hugged the crying child. "It's okay, Spencer." He soothed, rubbing the little boy's back.

Frowning at his friend's tear streaked face; Morgan reached over and ruffled the toddler's hair. "Hey come on man, what's with the water works? Hotch didn't pop you that hard, did he?" he asked.

"N-no" Reid hiccupped, swiping the back of his hand across his face. "Fat attually didn't huwt. It's just fis baby body lites to leat." Glancing up at Hotch he sighed. "I'm sowwy I wan off, Hotch. I didn't mean to wowwy you guys" (Maxandkiz, Turning Back Time, Ch. 9).

Reid started to feel frightened as the amusement park rides and all of the people hazily began to morph into very tall trees. The safety he felt with his friends forgotten, he crouched down low behind a nearby fallen tree. He was alone in the dark forest, but he intuitively knew he was in danger. Something was after him. He felt it creeping undetected through the dense foliage. No sound gave it away, but he knew it was there.

He looked around for any kind of protection or defensive weapon. The best he could do was to make himself as small as possible. This would be much easier if he were a toddler again, he thought vaguely. The panic was starting to set in. He tried to remember to breathe, but it was impossible. What did it matter anyway when he was so certain he was about to die a horrible bloody death?

Near the top of a distant hill he could see two familiar figures climbing. It was Hotch and Morgan! They could help! But how was he going to get their attention without also attracting the attention of the beast that was after him? He thought about yelling, but they were too far away to hear. He also thought about making a run for it. If he could close some of the distance between them, they might notice his danger and come to help. But what if they didn't? They were almost to the top of that hill, and within moments they would disappear to the other side. Staring up at the two men, he willed them to stop and turn around. They simply continued to climb.

The creature was almost on top of him now! He tried desperately to cram his adult body under the fallen tree, but it was impossible.

It was here! Reid dared to look up. Buried deep in the vegetation before him were two of the most gigantic bears he had ever seen. Teeth bared, drool spilling from their maws, they growled menacingly. Reid froze. And then he did the only thing he could think to do. He clamped his eyes tightly shut and shrieked out, "Hotch!"

He heard the bears charge for him and braced for the impact.

Suddenly, his prayers were answered. Hotch was there. He was standing between Reid and the bears. The bears wouldn't dare approach Hotch. They slunk back into the woods, not quite gone, waiting for the time when this man would leave their prey alone again.

Reid was breathing hard as he started to realize where he was. Hotch was holding both of his shoulders, gently shaking him, "Wake up, Spencer. You're having a nightmare. Come on. Wake up."

"Hotch?" Reid was confused but his panic was beginning to subside now. "Wow. Oh, ummm – I'm sorry, Hotch." He was embarrassed at having awoken him.

The older man ignored the apology. He was feeling Reid's forehead for a fever. He felt normal, but just to be certain, he popped the thermometer under the surprised young man's tongue.

"I'm fine, Hotch," he lisped out around the device in his mouth. At the admonishing look he got from his boss, he decided not to push it.

Sure enough, his temperature was normal. Gently, Hotch asked, "You want to tell me what that was all about?"

"Not really," Reid honestly answered keeping his eyes on the quilt.

"It was the bears again, wasn't it?"

Damn, but his boss was perceptive! "Yes, sir. I'm sorry."

"Sorry? About what?" Hotch was genuinely perplexed by the apology.

"About waking you up. It must be the middle of the night." He whispered in answer.

"Spencer, look at me." When he had the young man's full attention, he continued, "I don't ever want you to worry about waking me up or calling when you're upset or need to talk. I will be here for you whenever you need me." Hotch didn't miss the grimace of disbelief that passed briefly over the young man's face. "What's wrong?"

"You're leaving me here alone, for who knows how long."

It was Hotch's turn to grimace, though he hid it well. This nightmare was his fault. He berated himself for not telling Reid earlier. "Spencer, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sending the team without me. I'm sitting this one out too."

Instead of being relieved, Reid shot out, "You can't! Hotch, you can't stay behind just to babysit me. I'll be fine. I'm sorry about the nightmare. I promise I'll be fine. The team needs you. You should be with them." The more he pushed his boss away the more panic he felt that Hotch would take him up on it. He tried to push his rising fears away.

Calmly, Hotch reassured, "I'm not going anywhere, Spencer, so stop trying to get rid of me." He offered a rare smile. "The team can handle this one on their own, and by the time we get another case, you'll be healthy enough to join us." That matter settled, at least in the older man's mind, Hotch asked, "Do you think you can sleep?"

Reid nodded, "Yes, sir." There was underlying guilt in his answer, but if they could tackle the deeper meaning of Reid's dreams on a few more hours of sleep, Hotch believed they would be more productive.

"Okay, lay down then." As the young man silently complied, he finished with, "If you need me, you let me know. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Again, the guilt was evident.

As he shut out the light and closed the door, Hotch wondered if he was doing the right thing waiting until tomorrow.

XOXOXOXO

Thank you for reading! If you have a second, please let me know what you think. And if you have two seconds, please consider sending a note to Maxandkiz too.

I'll try to have the next chapter up in less than a month – but no promises.