Title: Not So Fragile
Rating: R
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid
Tags: Angst, BAMF Reid, Established Relationship, Happy Ending
Summary: Spencer Reid knows what the UnSubs see when they look at him, someone fragile. He loves proving them wrong.
Word Count: 2,095
Spoilers: Up Through Season 5
Beta: Grammarly



Spencer sat up in the cage he was in. It looked like something out of the olden days when animals were kept in them in zoos, only it was staked to the ground at the corner he could see, and it was too large for him to be able to lift anyway. He was strong but not that strong. The sun was setting, and that meant that it wasn't going to be long before he was the one being hunted. He had been stripped of pretty much everything. But the UnSub hadn't taken his shoes, though.

No matter what the UnSub thought, Spencer wasn't as fragile as what he looked like. The team hadn't been too close at figuring out where the UnSub was taking the victims before turning them loose. The National Park was too big, and the victims were all found in very remote parts that were not traceable. The science part was taking too long, getting dirt and debris from the four victims found. It might help if the victims were being held in a place that had trees that weren't around others, and there were a few spots like that.

It would be up to Spencer to get himself out of this. He would be turned loose and then would have a good bit of time after before he was going to be hunted. It was like and yet so different from the last time they were called in for a case like this.

"You can do it," Spencer said. He took a deep breath and then stripped off his shirt. He checked the T-shirt he had under it, and he made sure he wasn't hurt anywhere. Once the sun was up, he was going to be hot. It was already so warm he was sweating. It was humid as well; it felt like there might be rain on the way. It would help him hide but make his going slower. He didn't know what he was going to do.

Despite what Morgan thought, he didn't have the full Boy Scout Guide downloaded into his head. He needed to get a good start on what he was going to do once he was released. He walked over to the cage and found that, unlike what they all thought, it wasn't some weird electronic lock. The UnSub was letting the victims go on his own.

He wondered if the UnSub was around here. If he could escape beforehand, he might just be able to do something about all of this. He walked to the door and looked at the lock. He grinned.

Spencer sat down and took off a shoe; he found what he was looking for, threaded through the nylon webbing on the side, and pulled it out. When he had it out, he slipped it into his pocket. He needed to do a few things before getting himself out of there. He needed to be ready to run.

No one UnSub had taken him and been able to keep him; he wasn't going to let it happen now, either.

---

Aaron looked at the smoke that was flooding out of an area they had checked already the first day they were there. He wondered what was going on with that much smoke.

"What do you think of that, Hotch?" Morgan asked as he stepped up to him on their short break to check where they were going and get some water in them.

"I didn't think we had campers, but it might be park rangers burning brush that has been found while we are all trekking around the park. I think I want to break off and head that way, though. It just..."

"Feels like Reid?" Morgan asked.

Aaron nodded his head. He hoped it was, but he knew it could be a false hope. He snagged a blade of grass sticking up and started to break it into pieces while the rest of their group started to pack their stuff up again.

"Ranger Ford, can we go to the fire?"

"I was going to ask if anyone wanted to go with me and check it out. It's not any of us, and as far as I know, we have gotten all visitors out of here."

Aaron was glad that they were headed that way.

"Morgan?"

"I want to be with you, Hotch. I don't like the two of you going alone, and there is no group set to watch that area. Who knows what we are going to find."

A few minutes later, they were headed that way. Aaron had his hand on his gun the whole time as they got closer and closer to the smoke.

"Let me go, and I won't skin you alive," a voice said.

"Skin me alive?" Spencer asked. He scoffed, and then there was the sound of sticks breaking. "You have two broken arms and a concussion. You aren't skinning anything alive.

Aaron drew his weapon, and Ford stayed back as he and Morgan got closer to the clearing where Spencer's voice was coming from. Aaron was the first to get an eye on the scene. The UnSub was tied to a try by Spencer's overshirt; it was under the man's arms and kept him upright. The fire wasn't too big, but it looked like it was made of things that were the cause of the smoke.

There was blood all over, but it looked like SPencer had taken care of the wounds on him. He was shirtless and looked to be bruised already in the few places that weren't covered in blood from the cuts on his upper body. Aaron swallowed at the obvious abuse Spencer was put through.

"You are going to die out here. Your team isn't going to come after you. Probably just find us both dead here and not think anything more of it."

"Just because no one in your life loves you doesn't mean that my life is like yours. I've got a kid at home, you know. Well, I think he's mine. Just gotta get that ring out of my sock drawer and ask his father."

"I'm going to kill you. Gut you like the pig you are."

Aaron could just picture the look on Spencer's face when his head turned a little to look at the man.

Morgan got into a place where Aaron could see him and Aaron nodded for Morgan to go first. The UnSub was facing Morgan's direction more than Aaron, so if there was someone else waiting to ambush Spencer.

"Reid, you okay?"

"Yes, Morgan. Hotch, you can come out as well. He's alone, and he's been alone. He kept on threatening to have his partner kill me, but the person never showed up. If he did have a partner, they are long gone."

"You knew we were here?" Aaron asked.

"I heard you guys, and I'm downwind a little and know the scent of your aftershave. I am going to need a stretcher or something to get out. He tackled me down a hill, and I think I broke my leg in the struggle. I braced it like it was."

Aaron looked at Spencer's leg to see his belt was wrapped around two sticks holding his leg in place.

"Anything else?" Aaron asked as he reached for the walkie-talkie on his shirt collar.

"A few cuts and scrapes. I'm gonna be on so many pills. He had a few things on him that I could use, hence the fire. Thankfully there is a lot of brush here to use that makes a lot of smoke but not a lot of heat."

Morgan dropped down to his haunches beside Spencer as Aaron radioed in where they were, along with calling off the search. The park rangers could get ATVs to them, allowing them to get Spencer out of there.

Aaron waited for Morgan to get to the UnSub and check him over before he sat down beside Spencer.

"How are you, really?"

"This is going to cause a few nightmares, but I got myself out of the cage, and I can tell you it's about a mile south southeast of here. It wasn't in this area when we checked it long after we arrived. I think he was moving it. I have no clue about vehicles or anything like it. He was on foot when he found I picked the lock and got out."

"You still have your tools in your shoes?"

"Not all of them, just sometimes. I did for this just in case. I shoved them in that morning in the dark, and I was glad they hadn't been taken out."

Aaron wanted to pull Spencer close, but now wasn't the time. Not with the UnSub sitting right there. The face wasn't one Aaron recognized from the group of people on their short list of UnSubs. It wouldn't be hard to figure out who he was, though.

"Hotch, I'm gonna go with this guy, and we are going to get him out first."

"Please," Spencer answered.

It wasn't long before the rev of ATV engines echoed around the area. They hadn't been using them too much to not scare off the UnSub. So now they could be used. Aaron stayed where he was as the medics got the UnSub taken care of. One of them took a look at Spencer quickly but agreed that it was best to get this one out of there and then send another unit to get Spencer.

As soon as they were alone, Spencer slumped down into Aaron's arms. Spencer started to tremble just a little before he sighed and gave up trying to act stoic.

"You did well."

"I broke his legs on purpose on the way down. We didn't just tumble...what did Jessica call it the other day?"

"Ass over tea kettle?"

"Yes, that. We didn't just go ass over tea kettle down; there were a few stops, but I kicked hard enough to break his one leg, and then the other I slammed down into a tree trunk that had fallen down."

"It's okay. You were kidnapped, and you look like you went through it. Living is the only thing the FBI wants of agents who are taken, hostage."

"I wasn't even scared; I just didn't want him escaping to get anything to hurt me again. Or his gun. So, I made sure he wasn't going anywhere. Then I took care of my leg. I got us here, got him tied up, and then started this fire."

"Well, this will go down in the same league as Dowd, you know that, right?" Aaron asked.

Spencer laughed. "I just want to go home and get in bed and not leave it for days, which you and Jack won't let me do outside of the bathroom and food anyway."

"No, movies on the couch are also allowed, but that all depends on what the doctor says. You are going to the doctor here, and you are not going to fight it."

"Don't worry, I won't. I'm still running on adrenalin, but I'm sure that once that's gone, I'm sure I'm going to be in pain. A lot of it."

Aaron smiled, and he pressed a kiss to Spencer's hair. "I'll make sure you are taken care of correctly. Then I'll get you home where Jack can help you get better."

"Sounds like heaven."

"Then, when you feel like it, you can get that ring out of the sock drawer."

Spencer huffed a little but didn't move out of Aaron's arms. He just stayed as relaxed as he could be in Aaron's arms while waiting for the medics to come back. The rest of the team probably wasn't too far behind. So Aaron was going to take the time he could get as Spencer's attention would be elsewhere once they got there. Even if the team knew about them, neither Spencer nor Aaron didn't like public displays of affection, even when they were injured.

Once home, Aaron could touch and make sure that Spencer was okay. He would also be there for the pain and the pills that wouldn't touch it because Spencer was not able to take the stronger stuff. So Aaron would be supportive and do whatever Spencer needed with that.

Spencer wasn't nearly as fragile as many thought he was; Aaron knew firsthand he wasn't. However, there were times when someone needed to be treated like they mattered, and Aaron would make sure Spencer knew he mattered to Aaron.

The End