Strength of the Pack - Section Two

[welfycat]

Back to the Master Post






Section Two

Aaron knew something was wrong long before he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He had spent most of the day locked in his office, trying to contain the fallout of shifting while on a case. It wasn't unusual for his pack to shift while in pursuit of a suspect; sometimes it was the easiest way to track and take down an unsub, especially when the terrain was rough. However, it was unusual for a member of any pack or pride to shift in the middle of a suburb in plain daylight, surrounded by civilians and a pair of officers from the local police department. Shifting was largely regarded as a private matter, something that should only be done in the presence of other shifters, or with your own pack. There was plenty of prejudice that remained, both from shifters who considered those who used their skills in their work to be domesticated and non-shifting humans who felt that all shifters were unnatural. For the most part, Aaron wasn't concerned, unless it directly affected his pack or a case. As it did now.

The officers who had been with them on the scene hadn't been concerned that Aaron had shifted. If anything, they'd seemed impressed that Aaron had taken down the unsub without anyone getting hurt and that they'd caught the man who'd been on a killing spree in their city unhindered for two weeks within a matter of hours. Their police chief, though grateful that they'd brought in their killer, had been less than thrilled when he'd heard about Aaron shifting and had made his opinions known to BAU Section Chief Erin Strauss.

Strauss, who was already quietly perturbed about the inclusion of an untrained agent on Aaron's team, had been on the phone off and on all morning with the Chief of the Criminal Investigative Division and with Aaron. The Chief had eventually dismissed Strauss's complaint, much to Aaron's relief even though he knew the battle was far from over. Strauss had disliked Aaron's team - his pack - since long before Aaron had taken over from Jason, though she'd taken a particular disliking for Aaron ever since Jason had earmarked Aaron for the BAU directly from the FBI Academy. Aaron had never really decided if Strauss had a problem with shifters in general, or if she simply felt that packs and prides had no place in law enforcement.

It wasn't until Strauss had finally hung up the phone, with a warning that the matter wasn't closed, that Aaron realized the low level of distress he was feeling wasn't coming from his own anger and concern over how much power Strauss could potentially have over his pack within the FBI, but instead from somewhere beyond the bullpen. Aaron stood, walking to the window to look out over the gathered desks, just in time to feel his phone vibrate in his pocket.

"I think you should get down here," Derek said in lieu of a greeting when Aaron flipped his phone open.

"On my way," Aaron answered, hanging up his phone and heading unerringly toward his mate.

The bullpen itself was strangely empty - there was only one other team in the BAU that was currently not away on a case - and there were only three agents at their desks at the very edge of the room. Aaron looked around the room with a single glance, focusing on Derek and Spencer's abandoned desks and deciding that they'd both left in a hurry. Derek wasn't the tidiest member of their pack, which occasionally made Aaron a little bit irritable when it came to sharing both their living and working environments, but it wasn't like him to leave files open and a cup of half-finished coffee on the edge of his desk.

Spencer's desk was even more worrisome, as everything Aaron had seen about him suggested that he was meticulously neat when it came to his work area, even if his bag was typically hit or miss. But there was half of a sandwich and a pair of cookies abandoned next to his keyboard, and one of his drawers was partway open like he'd been looking for something before leaving suddenly.

The assessment took less than a minute, and Aaron moved on to the hallway, scanning back and forth for signs of danger before stepping into the men's bathroom. His first impulse was to go directly to where Derek was kneeling next to one of the stalls with his hand still wrapped around his cellphone, but his eyes were drawn to the pile of clothes by one of the sinks, the telltale beige sweater dragged partway across the floor.

"Over here," Derek said, answering Aaron's unasked question.

Aaron quietly walked so that he was standing behind Derek and ducked his head down so that he could see where Derek was looking. A leopard cub, barely bigger than a house cat, was crouched behind the back of the toilet bowl. Aaron frowned, the only expression of his dismay and shock that he'd let himself show at work, even when there was only Derek to see it.

"He's tiny," Derek said, looking away from Spencer to meet Aaron's eyes.

Aaron nodded, dropping his hand down to rest on his mate's shoulder, feeling a little bit better that Derek had no idea either when Derek spent far more time with Spencer than anyone else in the pack.

"And he's a cat," Derek added, his laugh short and choked, showing how upset he was, even though he would seem calm to the casual observer.

Aaron acknowledged that with a small smile of his own, thinking he should have known one of his pack was not a wolf. "Call Jason. Have him bring us Spencer's coat," Aaron said, tapping Derek's shoulder to get him to move.

Derek rose effortlessly, flipping open his phone and stepping back so Aaron could get closer.

Aaron knelt down, he'd done stranger things than kneel in a men's restroom while wearing a suit, watching curiously as Spencer pressed himself back against the wall and tried to wedge himself further behind the toilet. His dark spots were still close together, not yet formed into the rosettes that would eventually leave him with a lighter and more distinctive coat. It would be easy for Aaron to lean in and pick Spencer up, though he wasn't sure Spencer felt the pack bond strong enough yet to understand that the smell of wolf looming over him didn't mean harm and Aaron wasn't particularly interested in having his arms scratched open if Spencer decided to fight him.

Aaron turned when he heard the bathroom door open, watching as Jason came in carrying Spencer's coat. Fall had been unseasonably cold this year and Aaron had seen Spencer huddling with his scarf and cup of coffee inside the bullpen on more than one morning. Jason joined him at front of the stall, and Aaron noted Jason's complete lack of surprise when it came to both Spencer's form and his current state. Aaron tried to put away his own temper for the moment; as always, there were more important things to attend to than berating one of his pack for not providing him with information he needed.

Aaron accepted the coat without a word, noting the soft lining would make a suitable material to wrap Spencer in until he managed to get him out of the BAU and back to the den. He was about to tell Gideon to go round up JJ and Garcia and tell them to wrap up for the week when he heard their voices through the door.

"It's got to be something hot," Garcia was saying as the men in the bathroom all turned to look at the door.

"I'm sure it's not," JJ replied. "Something's wrong."

"Something hot! They're all in the bathroom," Garcia insisted, promptly shushed by JJ.

"Is it safe to come in?" JJ called as she cracked the door slightly open, concern and a small amount of bemusement coloring her voice.

Aaron closed his eyes briefly, grateful for Garcia's immutable enthusiasm and a little bit wearied as well. "We'll be out in a few minutes. JJ, would you close up my office and collect my briefcase? Garcia, take us off the active team roster until Monday and set all of our phones to forward to our cell phones."

"On it," Garcia called, the door falling shut again.

"I take it we'll be residing with you for the remainder of the week?" Jason asked, standing his ground when Aaron turned to look at him. It wasn't a glare, but it was enough to communicate that there would be a discussion later, when there was time. There was never enough time.

"Very likely," Aaron agreed, watching as Jason nodded his silent assent and briskly left the bathroom.

"He knew?" Derek asked when the door had fallen shut again, regardless of the fact that a closed door wouldn't prevent Jason from hearing their conversation.

Aaron turned back to Spencer, who had lain down on the tile and placed his head on his paws. "He knew."

"Damn it," Derek whispered.

Aaron didn't have to look back to know that Derek was seconds away from either pacing or slamming his fist into something. "I'll handle it. Go collect what you need from your desk and get Spencer's bag."

"I'm not leaving," Derek said.

"You're not. We'll still be right here when you get back," Aaron agreed, waiting as Derek made the decision to comply, as he knew he would. There was always the chance that Derek would meet Jason in the bullpen, but Aaron felt certain that both of them would control themselves.

When the door fell shut again, Aaron sat down just inside the stall, and pulled Spencer's coat so that it was halfway on his lap. "I know you're not terribly interested in coming out right now," Aaron began, knowing that most of his words would be lost when they reached Spencer. He could only hope that some of the mentality of the pack had been absorbed over the past five weeks Spencer had been with them and that Spencer would recognize him in some way.

Spencer's eyes, which had fallen shut at some point when Aaron had been distracted with the rest of the pack, opened sleepily and stared at Aaron.

Aaron sighed and moved a little closer. "I'd really prefer if you didn't shred this suit jacket. It took me thirty minutes to get the blood out of the cuffs, and that was only a week ago. It's not like we don't already go through more clothes on this job than seems descent." He lowered his voice to add; "sometimes I think Jason has the right idea, with the jeans and that jacket of his. Everything just washes out, and if it doesn't, no big deal. Not like replacing your suit pants for the third time in six months."

Spencer twisted his head to the side and after a moment a paw stretched out and landed on the zipper pull of his coat.

After glancing at his watch and at the door, Aaron turned back to Spencer. "Now, here's what's going to happen. Any minute now, Derek and Jason are going to come back in here, and if we're much longer than that, I'm not sure JJ is going to be able to dissuade Garcia from coming in as well. So that they don't have to watch me manhandle you into the coat, I'm going to give you the opportunity to come out now, because I'm pretty sure Garcia will hit me with that purse of hers if she sees me dragging you out from behind the toilet. So what is it going to be?"

Just when he thought that Spencer was going to force his hand, Spencer slunk out and arched his back before climbing onto the coat and kneading his paws in the lining. When Spencer was settled down flat Aaron wrapped the edges so that it would be more difficult for Spencer to scratch him if he tried to get loose, carefully scooped the bundle up and stood.

It felt strange to have a cub in his arms, particularly since it wasn't even a wolf cub. When JJ and Garcia had joined the pack, they'd both been young wolves - and still were - but their forms were physically grown. Aaron felt more than a little ill that he'd sent Spencer out on cases without ever seeing his form. If he had shifted while on a case, even if it had been at a crime scene or an interview, he would have been completely helpless. At the very least he seemed steady on his feet; Aaron didn't think he would have been able to live with himself if Spencer had been blind and mewling.

"You got him?" Derek asked, coming back inside the bathroom with his and Spencer's bags slung over his shoulder.

"He came right to me," Aaron said as he adjusted the bundle in his arms. Spencer was active inside the coat, shifting his weight and pushing his head up so he could look out at the new sound.

Derek smiled a little as he looked at Spencer. "He is awfully cute like that."

Aaron looked down, seeing Spencer's hazel eyes looking back up at him as a single paw reached to press against Aaron's chest. "I wouldn't let him hear you say that. 'Pretty boy' is probably the limit to his tolerance."

"Can't help the truth." Derek smirked. He walked over to the sinks and bent down to collect Spencer's clothes and picked up the glasses from where they'd been placed on the edge of the sink, probably just before Spencer had shifted.

"Let's go to our den," Aaron said, nodding to the door. He could feel the rest of the pack gathered just outside.

Derek opened the door and they stepped out, the rest of the pack closing in around them instantly.

"He's adorable," Garcia cooed immediately, watching in delight as Spencer bristled his fur and twisted around to see the rest of the pack.

Aaron was pleased that Spencer didn't seem interested in escaping, even when surrounded by those who must scent like predators to him.

"He's so little," JJ added, smiling at Spencer before looking up at Aaron, a question in her eyes.

Before Aaron could even begin to address them, he scented a threat and looked to the glass doors that led to the BAU bullpen. Strauss was coming towards them, already looking livid.

Without Aaron having to even give unspoken directions, the pack flanked him. Derek and Jason stood to either side and to the front, protecting both their leader and the cub. JJ and Garcia stood together right behind Derek's other side, in a position of protection but ready to leap to the defense of the pack at a moment's notice.

"Agent Hotchner," Strauss said as she opened the door and stalked out into the hallway, her heels clattering against the slick floor.

Aaron desperately wanted to tuck Spencer somewhere safe, all of his instincts urging him to protect his pack from what was rapidly becoming marked as enemy in his wolf senses. "Section Chief Strauss," he replied, using her full title to remind her that she didn't hold as much power as she liked to think.

"I've just been notified that your team is on stand down for the remainder of the week. I don't have any approved leave forms sitting on my desk, so I thought there must be another explanation for your sudden departure," Strauss said, stopping a full five feet away from Derek and Jason. Strauss was occasionally petty, but she wasn't stupid enough to walk directly into a pack that was standing in formation.

"Pack business," Aaron said simply. It was an acceptable explanation; in all of their contracts there was a simple but powerful section that indicated that to a shifter, their pack would always come first. None of them could be directly fired for taking leave to handle pack matters, though there were plenty of times that worked against them in the minds of those in charge.

Strauss took another step forward, accustomed to taking the dominant position in conflicts. "What exactly does that mean?" she asked, meeting Aaron's eyes in a direct challenge.

Aaron didn't break her gaze, even as he automatically adjusted his hold on the coat wrapped around Spencer when he moved around again.

Strauss's eyes fell to Spencer, her expression indicating her shock and her confusion before she covered it with irritation. "Is that a leopard?"

"An African Leopard cub, Panthera pardus pardus his non-shifting relatives would be called," Jason said, not taking his eyes from Strauss.

That was all Aaron needed to know that Jason considered Strauss every bit as much of a threat as he did. "As you can see, we have pack business to attend to."

"That's Spencer Reid?" Strauss asked, her eyes traveling from Spencer, to the coat and then to the second bag that Derek was carrying.

"Doctor Reid; yes it is. If you'll excuse us," Jason said, taking a step forward.

Strauss stepped back instinctively and a moment later she visibly recognized that she'd lost any power she might have held when she'd backed away.

Derek and Jason moved forward in one smooth motion, JJ and Garcia falling back to cover the position behind Aaron, and they walked into the stairwell that was just beyond Strauss. None of them were willing to wait for the elevator while Strauss was still in the hallway.

Aaron glanced at Jason, and nodded when he noticed the other man looking back. They both knew that Strauss would be on the phone with the Chief of the Criminal Investigative Division, probably within the next few minutes, but there was nothing more they could do about the situation.

"We'll meet you at your house in thirty minutes?" Garcia asked when they reached the parking garage, coming up to Aaron again so that she could lean in to look at Spencer.

"Drive careful, come prepared for a day or two," Aaron said, watching as Garcia held out her hand so that Spencer could sniff it. Spencer did, wrinkling the edges of his nose slightly before leaning in to rub his face against Garcia's knuckles.

Aaron climbed into the passenger side of his car while Derek stowed their bags and Aaron's briefcase in the backseat. He accepted help with his seat belt, his arms full with keeping Spencer contained.

"I'll go slow," Derek assured him, backing them out of the parking space.

"By which you mean five over the speed limit," Aaron interpreted.

Derek shrugged, because that's exactly what he'd meant and that was why Aaron insisted on driving unless he anticipated they were about to be in a car chase. Hopefully Derek would consider that he had his arms full of an inquisitive cat before he took a corner at thirty miles an hour.

*****

Aaron stood as he heard the sound of a key at the front door, motioning Derek to stay with Spencer. Derek had already shifted into his wolf form and was laying on the living room rug as Spencer wandered about the edges of the room. Jason was the last member of the pack to arrive - JJ and Garcia were getting settled in the room that was theirs when they stayed for extended periods of time - and Aaron had been on the verge of calling him when he hadn't shown up within forty minutes.

By the time he reached the front door, Jason had unlocked it and was bringing in a small group of grocery bags in addition to his go-bag.

"Went shopping?" Aaron asked mildly as he locked the door behind them and picked up two of the sacks.

"Picked up a few things. I wasn't aware he was so close to shifting or I would've already had them on hand," Jason said, stowing his personal belongings in the closet before collecting the rest of the groceries and joining Aaron on the short journey into the kitchen.

Aaron set the sacks on the counter and began to open them, looking bemused at the selection of frozen and raw meat that Jason had bought. Frozen salmon was the biggest item, but there was also rabbit, chicken, turkey, and venison. "Rabbit?"

"They didn't sell monkey or baboon, which is rather amiss of them," Jason replied as busied himself with the sink.

Aaron stored the meat in the freezer and picked up another bag. "Turkey baby food?"

"Microwave one of the jars for twenty seconds," Jason instructed, looking up from where he was washing a bottle. "And if you'd get the formula out as well?"

Aaron uncapped the jar and put in the microwave before finding packages of milk formula designed for very young cubs separated from their packs. "You knew his form was fading and you didn't tell me." Aaron didn't bother to make it into a question.

Jason glanced over his shoulder, coming to pick up one of the formula packages when it became clear that Aaron wasn't moving. "I would think that would be something a pack leader wouldn't have to be told, Aaron. If you hadn't been avoiding him, you would have been aware of the situation quite some time ago. I'm frankly surprised that Derek or JJ hadn't figured it out first."

"That's not the point. He could have died. I doubt I would have been able to compel him to shift if it came to that." Aaron glared, trying to place the welfare of his pack members above his own anger and guilt. "You should have told me."

"You haven't held a pack gathering since my return, which is highly unusual since we ran as a pack almost every week before my leave of absence," Jason stated in that cryptic way he had of bringing in information that seemed unrelated at first.

"I haven't," Aaron agreed, not bothering to cite how busy their team had been lately as a reason. He had been shirking at least some of his responsibilities with the pack, Jason was right about that much, even if he'd been trying to do the right thing. "I should have held a pack gathering when you returned, and I should have made a greater effort to include Spencer. But you still should have told me that he's fading, that he isn't even a full grown cub. What if he'd shifted while we were on a case?"

Jason nodded, half focused on preparing the formula and adding some of the turkey paste. "I'm afraid I didn't recognize how bad it was, or that he was so small, though I know he's been struggling with sensory adaptation. It's a good thing that he shifted when he did, though I'm certain you could have compelled him if it became necessary. He was comfortable with you."

Aaron shook his head, not wanting to point out that Spencer had avoided him nearly as much as he had been avoiding Spencer. He sighed, just a little, and watched as Jason made sure the formula was the right temperature. Sometimes he forgot that Jason had once had another family, and a child, before the BAU and the pack. "He's a cat. I never even noticed."

"You did, you just didn't couldn't define it in your human mind," Jason said. "The scent of pack, the compulsion that surrounds the very notion, can blind us to what would otherwise be obvious."

"Is the bottle necessary?" Aaron asked as Jason raided his drawers for a set of thicker dish towels.

"He won't need it for long, but I'm not sure he's eaten much in his form. Best to start slow," Jason said.

The door to the kitchen swung open and JJ padded inside, barefoot and wrapped in her robe. "I think Spence can smell that, he keeps trying to claw through the carpet under the living room door." She looked from Aaron to Jason, trying to see if the tension between them had dissipated.

Aaron nodded to Jason, their discussion over for the time being; they both held fault and responsibility for the current situation, and had acknowledged it as much as they were able. Aaron knew that he'd apologize later to Spencer. Ignorance was no excuse when it came to taking care of his pack and his team. "Let's go out before he gets through to the floorboards."

"Oh, Garcia already shifted; she nosed at Spence until he stopped," JJ smiled and turned away to lead the way into the living room.

Jason followed her, with Aaron close behind. Inside the living room Garcia and Derek were in the process of corralling Spencer as he investigated the fireplace. Aaron shook his head at the sight. Though his team was predominately comprised of common gray wolves, Derek and Garcia were already anomalies. Most packs were biologically related, and even the ones who were formed through close work environments - law enforcement and government agencies being the most common - were typically made up of the same subspecies. Derek's wolf form was closest in coloring and body type to the eastern timber wolf, and Garcia's was that of a red wolf. To see both of them gathered around a leopard cub was bizarre, to say the least, but Aaron thought that it kind of worked, at least for the time being.

Jason scooped up Spencer, ignoring how Derek put his ears forward with the slightest suggestion of aggression. He settled down into the armchair at the side of the room, guiding Spencer's mouth to the nipple of the bottle. "Go ahead, we'll be along shortly," Jason said, looking up to find JJ and Aaron watching him.

Aaron took a glance around the room, pausing on where Garcia and Derek were play wrestling in the middle of the room before nodding and heading toward the door. He was comfortable being undressed in front of his pack, being nude while in the process of shifting was second nature to all of them, but he didn't particularly care to leave his suit laying around in case it got chewed or clawed.

"He'll be alright, won't he?" JJ asked, following Aaron back out into the hallway. "He's so little, Aaron."

Placing a hand on JJ's shoulder and letting her lean in briefly, Aaron frowned. "He'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

"I didn't even see it. I just thought that he didn't get enough to eat." JJ pulled back and shrugged out of her robe, shifting before Aaron had a chance to respond.

Aaron opened the door to the living room again and pushed the doorstop in place. There were enough of them now to keep Spencer from wandering into anything he shouldn't. JJ slipped by him, the bright white fur of her muzzle and chest rubbing against his leg as she trotted into the living room.

Undressing in his study and emerging a few minutes later, Aaron closed the door behind him and shifted as he returned to his pack.

*****

It was late in the evening when Derek shifted back into his human form, immediately looking for Aaron. Aaron was sprawled on the couch, already in sweatpants and with a case file open in his lap. Derek took the opportunity to watch his mate for a moment; JJ and Garcia still resting in their forms provided him with an adequate place to watch unobserved. Aaron's eyes weren't moving, not in a way that indicated reading or even that he was examining a crime scene photo, and if Derek had to guess he would predict that Aaron was currently deep in thought about the pack.

Aaron's eyes met his a moment later. Derek got to his feet and made a place for himself next to Aaron on the couch. They sat together for a moment, Aaron's hands running over Derek's shoulders and back. Derek pressed his face to Aaron's chest, resting there and listening to Aaron's heartbeat.

When Derek looked up he found Aaron looking at the rest of the pack on the floor. JJ and Garcia were basically in a pile, only distinguishable where one ended and the other began by the color of their fur. Spencer was curled up against Garcia's side, his ears twitching occasionally and one of his oversized paws resting over his nose. Jason was only a foot away from the others, resting on his side with his legs stretched out in front of him.

"More like a sheep in wolf's clothing," Derek said, feeling the rise and fall of Aaron's chest as he very quietly laughed.

"Something like that. What are we going to do?" Aaron asked.

Confused, Derek sat up, moving so that he was still pressed against Aaron's legs. It was a little chilly to be lazing around in the nude, but he could wait for a few minutes before he got dressed. "What do you mean? Gideon was feeding him earlier, I smelt that. He'll grow."

Aaron nodded thoughtfully. "He will, but what happens when his form is grown? He won't even be fully grown before he's ready to hunt and survive by himself."

"We can all survive by ourselves," Derek said, "that doesn't mean that we should, or that we'd ever want to." He didn't add his opinion about what years of being a lone wolf had done to Gideon; Aaron was already plenty familiar with his thoughts on the subject.

"His form is a leopard. If he was a lion, or even a red fox, maybe he'd want to stay with the pack." Aaron reached out and placed his hand on Derek's knee. "We can raise his form, give him the skills that he needs to succeed in the FBI, but I imagine he'll desire a more solitary occupation before long. Six months, maybe a year."

Derek looked back over to the rest of their pack, focusing on where Spencer was curled up. "Just because his form is solitary doesn't mean that he won't want to stay with the pack. Our form isn't everything."

Aaron nodded in agreement. They'd done as much research as they could about profiling and shifters, though none of it would ever be published. "Have you ever seen a leopard shifter stay with another shifter for longer than it took to mate or raise a cub?"

"No," Derek admitted. "But I doubt they'd advertise it if they did. Where do you think his mother is? He's twenty, he should be almost grown."

Aaron shook his head. "I haven't looked. I'm sure they did a background check before they approved his inclusion in the Bureau, but I never requested the file."

Derek paused, the statement throwing up alarm bells that sounded just like the ones that had started to go off when they were interviewing the unsub that had knocked Spencer over a few days previously. "Why not?"

Aaron opened his mouth like he was about to defend himself, but closed it before he shook his head. "I let my judgement become clouded."

Recognizing that Aaron wanted to drop the subject, Derek decided to let him for the time being. There was a larger problem weighing on his mind. "You really think that he'll leave?"

"I don't know. But we should be aware of the possibility, prepare ourselves for when that time comes," Aaron said firmly, swinging his legs down to the floor and leaving Derek bereft on the couch. "I'm going to go prepare some food. Jason brought fish; hopefully Spencer will be interested because I'm not so keen on the smell to those meat milkshakes."

Derek stared as Aaron left the room, trying to make sense of what was happening in his mate's complicated mind.

*****

By the time Derek returned downstairs, freshly showered and in a sweatpants and a t-shirt, Gideon had changed back and was in the kitchen helping Aaron prepare dinner. Or, to be more accurate, Gideon had taken over and Aaron had been delegated to his assistant. If Derek didn't know that Aaron didn't actually mind when Gideon laid claim to the kitchen, it would bother him. But truthfully neither Derek nor Aaron were particularly talented chefs and nights they spent together as a pack were usually the best meals they ate. They also appreciated that Gideon seemed to relish creating meals for the pack.

Derek paused at the refrigerator to grab a bottle of beer and press his hand to Aaron's bare forearm as he passed by on his way to the dining room. It was nice to be spending time together as a pack again, as opposed to only being a team, and Derek was again realizing how off kilter they'd felt as a pack without Gideon. Casual touches and stepping into each other's personal space was something they curbed when they were on cases and even when they were at Quantico. They were all too aware of how they'd be perceived by others who weren't shifters, and being constantly on guard in addition to working in changing and dangerous environments was wearing.

Derek stopped by Gideon as well, standing next to the man and watching him shake the frying pan over the stove as the oil inside popped and sizzled. Gideon glanced over and Derek nodded in response. He was still angry at Gideon, probably would be at least until Spencer was well, but he was glad to have him back on the team. Gideon returned to his task, humming quietly as he set down the pan and moved to the spices he'd arranged on the counter.

He heard voices from the dining room well before he stepped inside, smiling as he listened to JJ and Garcia cooing over Spencer. Spencer didn't have to worry about getting any flack from him about being tiny and adorable because Garcia was going to drive the poor kid crazy with it before Derek even got a chance to say a single word.

"Hold him up a little bit higher. Spencer, look at me," Garcia was saying as Derek entered the dining room.

JJ adjusted her hold on Spencer. "He doesn't want to look up."

Derek was unsurprised to find JJ and Garcia sitting at the table, JJ holding Spencer up on the table while Garcia was taking pictures with her phone. Spencer looked about as unhappy as a leopard could look, and Derek could imagine what Spencer's expression would be if he was human with his hair falling over his face as he tipped his head forward and sulked.

The flash went off again on Garcia's phone and Derek decided enough was enough, because there was taking pictures of Spencer being cute and there was cruel and unusual punishment, and this was starting to fall into the latter category. "Hand over the pretty cat," Derek said, grinning at JJ and Garcia's mostly feigned dismay.

"He's so sweet, how can I not take pictures of that!" Garcia defended herself, snapping another picture of JJ handing Spencer to Derek.

Derek held up a hand to block the second shot, not desiring to be blinded by the flash. "Put the phone away, baby girl, because I'm pretty sure Spencer will be more than happy to wage a geek war on you to reclaim those pictures if he knew about them."

"You wouldn't!"

"He would," JJ said, reaching for her glass of wine. "Just ask him what he did to the photos I took of him and Aaron napping together on the couch."

"As I've told you before, many times, I did not touch those photos." Derek didn't bother to hide his grin as he sat down next to JJ, out of the range of Garcia's phone unless she got up, and settled Spencer in his lap. It was the truth, even though JJ hadn't believed a word of it. Derek had, however, given Aaron some very precise instructions on how to find the pictures on JJ's computer and delete them.

Garcia leaned around JJ to look at him appraisingly. "You mess with my phone and I will buy you a dog house to stay in."

Derek just laughed and managed to grab Spencer before he slid down his leg to the floor with claws digging into his knee. "I don't think so, pretty boy. You stay put," he said to Spencer, turning him so that he'd be more likely to try and climb up his chest or onto the table.

There was a minute of quiet as Spencer attempted to scale Derek's chest, and when Derek looked up he saw JJ and Garcia looking at each other and communicating something just through the minute shifts in their expressions. "What?" he finally asked, their silent conversation passing too quickly for him to decipher.

JJ turned so that she was facing Derek and raised her eyebrows in a mostly believable emulation of innocent curiosity. "Nothing." She turned back to Garcia before adding, "we are so placing bets on this."

"You're on," Garcia said with the grin that meant she was doing something mischievous and possibly not legal.

Derek decided that occasionally - usually when it came to JJ and Garcia - ignorance was bliss, and went back to gently stroking the back of Spencer's head and rubbing behind his ears. Spencer arched his back and leaned in against him, laying down on Derek's lap as soon as Derek moved onto rubbing Spencer's stomach.

The flash of light from the other side of the table was enough to let him know that Garcia had snuck around so she could get a better shot of them with her phone.

"Last one, I swear!" Garcia quickly tucked her phone into the pouch of her sweatshirt, giving Derek a look that was practically daring him to come take it.

"It's not me you have to worry about," Derek reiterated, though he might talk Garcia into showing him the pictures later. He raised an eyebrow menacingly and Spencer placed his front paws on the table and pulled himself up to see over the edge.

Garcia was already reaching for her phone again, but was interrupted when Aaron and Gideon came in with dinner. They dug in quickly, easy conversation filling the air and as soon as Derek had cleared his place he took pieces of the raw fish and dragged them along the edge of the table for Spencer to bat at clumsily with his paws before he ate. The casual pack meals, sitting around half-dressed in sweats and old jeans so they could shed their clothes and shift with ease, was another thing Derek had missed. They stayed at the table for more than an hour, sharing light stories and amusing anecdotes, even though they'd heard them all before and most of them had been there when they'd occurred.

Derek passed Spencer back to JJ with a warning glance at Garcia before he pitched in with the clean up.

"Shall we go for a run?" Aaron asked as he finished loading the dishwasher.

Derek glanced out the window; it was dark and cold outside, and he wanted nothing more than to bound through the small wooded area that comprised their pack's territory. "A quick one. We can be back in half an hour," he said, knowing that Aaron was as concerned as he was about leaving Spencer alone in the den.

"We can stay here." JJ entered the room, carefully cradling Spencer, who had settled down again immediately after he'd finished the fish.

"We don't mind a night in," Garcia added, bringing in the empty wine bottle they'd finished over dinner.

Aaron nodded and started the dishwasher before taking off in the direction of the porch with Gideon right behind him. Derek didn't bother to leave the kitchen, simply tossing the dishtowel in the direction of the sink before stripping off his shirt and pants and shifting to the sound of Garcia's whoop of approval.

The air came alive around him and Derek bounded in the direction of his mate and oldest pack mate, the house disappearing rapidly behind them as they ran side by side into the night.

*****

It took a long time for Spencer to open his eyes that morning; what he really wanted was to slide down deeper under the covers and go back to sleep. He tried, pressing his face down in between the pillows and burrowing deeper into the bed, but it was too late. His mind was already up and running, a flood of thoughts ranging from a formula adjustment he wanted to try on a sample of geographic profiles and when the last time was that he'd had fresh coffee because he was sure he could smell some brewing already. The good stuff, not the stuff out of the can that was usually hanging around in Gideon's pantry.

The most pressing thought was that this wasn't his bed, not his bed at Cal Tech and not his bed in the guest room at Gideon's house, and it didn't feel like a hotel bed either. The thought that immediately became more pressing was that he was stark naked. The last time he could remember falling asleep naked was when he was nine and the late July heat in Vegas had been unbearable and their electricity had been turned off so the fans and the air conditioner weren't working.

Spencer's eyes popped open and he tugged the sheet higher up his chest and looked around the room for any clues as to where he was and if his clothes were anywhere in sight. It wasn't a room he'd been in before. It was reasonably spacious for a master bedroom, with a king sized bed in the middle of a room that was set up for two occupants. The last thing he could remember was eating lunch with Derek and proclaiming that it had been the most government coffee shop he'd ever been in. Derek had laughed, grinning widely before tossing a small piece of bread at him.

Spencer eyed each of the dressers and the closet, wondering how bad of an idea it would be to borrow someone's clothes if he didn't knew who they were. Finally, he spotted a tie resting on a small table; the tie that Aaron had been wearing on the jet when they were on their way back from Sioux Falls. At least that answered the question of where he was, though he didn't really want to examine why he was naked in his boss's bed, especially since he barely knew the man.

He slid toward the edge of the bed but stopped and clung tighter to the sheet when he heard footsteps approaching in the hallway. The door opened and Derek came in, bare chested and carrying Spencer's bag. "I forgot to bring this up on Wednesday. Figured you'd want something to wear. Gideon said he heard you wake up, something about your breathing patterns changing."

"Thanks?" Spencer asked, staring as Derek placed the bag on the bed and then went to dig through one of the drawers.

"Coffee is ready downstairs. I imagine you're like the rest of them and aren't fully functioning until you've had at least a cup?" Derek asked as he stood up and pulled a shirt over his head.

"This is your bed?" Spencer asked, wondering if he climbed back in bed and closed his eyes if everything would be back to normal when he opened them again.

Derek grinned. "I'm going to take that as a yes. The bathroom is through that door, feel free to grab a shower. See you downstairs, pretty boy."

Spencer blinked, feeling himself flush all the way down to his chest. He felt a little weird, like he'd been having an intense and involved dream that he couldn't quite remember but was somehow important. Maybe he'd hit his head or something while training with Derek, or someone had taken offense to his comment about the government style coffee shop and had decided to take him out, though he wasn't sure exactly how either of those situations ended with him naked and in Derek and Hotch's bed.

He listened carefully, realizing that he could hear and sense the rest of the team in the house, but none of them were near the bedroom. Spencer crept to the bedroom door, closing it tightly before he grabbed his bag and dashed into the bathroom, locking that door behind him.

His reflection in the full length mirror behind the door startled him and Spencer thought that it was no wonder JJ and Garcia kept pushing food at him. He didn't remember being this thin before, though he didn't exactly make a habit of checking himself out in the mirror. He felt better though, more awake and refreshed than he had in a long time, and he was actually hungry for more than just coffee.

Showering quickly, Spencer changed into the spare set of clothes in his bag and slung it over his shoulder before heading down the steps and towards where he could hear Hotch and Derek in the kitchen.

"How do you like your eggs?" Hotch asked, looking up from the frying pan before Spencer had even stepped onto the kitchen floor.

"Scrambled?" Spencer guessed, looking over the homey scene in front of him. Gideon was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter with a section of the newspaper spread out in front of him and a cup of coffee by his elbow, Aaron in front of the stove while Garcia cracked eggs and pulled pieces of toast out from the toaster. Derek was pouring a glass of orange juice next to the fridge, and smiled at Spencer before walking through the kitchen.

"Coffee is in the pot, mugs are in the cupboard directly above," Hotch directed as he picked up a spatula.

Spencer watched as Gideon took a sip of his own coffee and turned the page of the newspaper and Garcia popped four more slices of bread into the toaster. The coffee was probably safe enough if Gideon was drinking it, though Spencer wondered if this is what being drugged felt like. The last thing he could remember having was coffee.

"Poor thing," Garcia practically cooed as she turned to him. "Still not quite back on two feet yet?"

"Right," Spencer agreed uncertainly and wandered to the cabinet above the coffee pot. He poured himself three fourths of a cup, before topping it off with half-and-half and several spoonfuls of sugar. Derek had laughed at him the first time he'd watched him prepare his coffee, but Spencer didn't care. He needed the sugar this morning.

Aaron finished with the eggs and eased the onto a plate with two slices of toast. "Bacon is on the table in the dining room. We'll talk after breakfast," he said as he held the plate to Spencer and motioned in the direction that Derek had gone earlier.

Spencer accepted it, his stomach winning out over his curiosity for once partly because he didn't even know what questions he should be asking.

JJ and Derek were already sitting at the table and JJ smiled cheerfully. "I was wondering if you were going to wake up today." She pushed the plate of bacon down the table and Spencer took a few slices.

"What day is it?" he asked, taking a bite of his eggs and suddenly realizing how hungry he really was.

"Saturday." Derek reached over and grabbed another slice of bacon from the platter.

Spencer looked down at his plate, picking up a slice of bacon and turning it in his fingers. "We were in the gym on Wednesday?"

"That's the last thing you remember?" Derek asked.

"I remember that we had lunch, that chocolate muffin was really good, and then we came back to the BAU," Spencer said, turning in his chair as the rest of the team joined them at the table with their own plates of food.

"After breakfast," Hotch said, who'd obviously been listening to their conversation from the other room.

Spencer went back to his food, looking up halfway through the meal when he realized at least one thing had changed. Sitting next to Hotch no longer felt completely overwhelming; now it wasn't any different than the low level pressure he received from the rest of the team. Finding the change a curious, if welcome, relief, Spencer listened to the light conversation and quietly mulled over the problem.

*****

It felt a little bit like being called down to the principal's office, something which had never happened to Spencer while he was going to school, but he'd imagined this was what it was like. The rest of the team hadn't said anything when Hotch had requested his presence and when Spencer had looked back Derek had nodded encouragingly.

Hotch sat down behind his desk and waited for the minute it took for Spencer to completely scan the titles of his bookshelves. "I gather you don't remember shifting in the bathroom at the BAU? Or anything that happened while you were in your form?" he asked when Spencer sat down in one of the chairs near the window.

Spencer shook his head mutely, his mind scrambling for details. At least the memory loss made sense now, though he could generally recall closer to the time he shifted better. "I remember, turkey?" he asked. He was fairly certain that's what he remembered the most, but even that flavor was a little hazy.

The corner of Hotch's mouth quirked up. "Yes, you had turkey. That's all you remember?"

After thinking about it for another minute, Spencer nodded. "I think so."

"Spencer, when was the last time you shifted?"

"Four years, eight months and six days ago." He didn't have to think to know the answer to that question. "I don't know why I did this time. It won't happen again."

Hotch frowned, looking deeply troubled. "You haven't felt the compulsion to shift for nearly five years?"

Spencer shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm not even really sure what that feels like. Most of the time, the couple of minutes before I shift are a little blurry. I don't even mean to shift, it just happens. I wasn't even aware I was a shifter until I changed for the first time."

"That must have been difficult," Hotch offered neutrally.

Spencer looked away, focusing outside the window where he could see a tree in the process of losing its dark orange leaves. "Surprising," he agreed. "It took me a while to figure out what had happened."

Hotch paused before he tapped the file that was sitting on top of his desk. "I requested a copy of your background check. Your mother is mentally ill, and I'm guessing she isn't a shifter?"

"No." Spencer looked down, a little embarrassed to realize that of course his boss was aware that he'd committed his mother to a sanitarium. It had been just over two years and while Spencer had dropped by the sanitarium on his way cross country with Gideon - though he hadn't told him where he was going - she had been't been entirely compos mentis when he'd visited. He didn't think she'd forgiven him for committing her and part of him wondered if she ever would.

"And she nor your father never arranged for another shifter in the community to care for you while you were in your form?" Hotch asked.

Spencer's eyes narrowed, feeling his hackles rise the exact same way that they did when other kids in the neighborhood had made fun of him and his mother. "I never told her that I was a shifter. My father left before I was born, I've only met him once and he seemed disinclined to repeat the experience. Are we finished?"

Hotch's expression flashed briefly with suppressed anger before he cleared his face. "I wouldn't be pressing the issue but it is relevant. Have you heard of a shifter's form fading?"

After quickly running his mind through everything he'd read about shifters - which wasn't much, though it wasn't for a lack of trying - Spencer shook his head. "There isn't much research published about shifters and most of the speculative fiction about them contradicts itself on basic facts."

"Shifters don't typically let themselves be studied and holding one captive is a remarkably difficult feat. After a shifter hasn't been in their form for a period of time they start to become ill. Nothing obvious or definitive, but they are thin and frequently tired, almost like they're wasting away. Eventually, they lose the ability to take their forms altogether and they typically die within a year of that time." Hotch leaned forward, looking gravely concerned. "I'm honestly surprised that after almost five years you were able to shift without being compelled."

Spencer stared, trying to process what Hotch was telling him. "Compelled?" he asked, because that was the part that didn't make any sense to him.

"A pack leader can compel one of their pack to shift, though it's only done infrequently among most packs," Hotch explained. "I'm doubtful that I would have been able to compel you, as you are still in the process of bonding with the pack.

"I could have died?" Spencer asked after a few minutes of silence.

Hotch looked uncomfortable. "Yes, and I apologize. I should have been aware of the situation far sooner and been making arrangements to help you. As the situation stands we will do everything we can to ensure that you are able to shift on your own and at your discretion."

Spencer sat back in the chair and turned to look out the window again. His chest felt a little tight, but he supposed that was to be expected when being given a life or death ultimatum.

"I'll let you have some time, it's a lot to take in," Hotch said, getting to his feet and leaving Spencer in the office.

Spencer pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned his head against the wall, watching as the wind tore leaves off the tree outside the window. He felt chilled again, and the breakfast he had felt so hungry for only an hour early churned in his stomach. The team was milling inside the house and Spencer felt Garcia shift, letting her in when she started scratching at the door to the office. They sat together on the floor, Spencer leaning against Hotch's desk as he ran his hand through the deep reddish-brown fur of her thick coat.

*****

Section Three