Sighting

Reid was lying in bed in the hospital ward having suffered a gunshot to his neck again on the latest case. They'd been trying to find a man who was going round shooting gay men and Spencer had been caught in the crossfire. The rest of the team were off trying to find the killer.

He turned over on his side and tried to fight the tears back remembering the last time he'd been shot in the neck. Hotch had been with them then. How he missed him! He'd been missing seven years now and the hole became bigger and bigger.

Remembering the night they lost him he sobbed uncontrollably trying to hide the sound of his tears but he couldn't help the odd cry of anguish coming out. Hotch had been taken by an UnSub they were trying to hunt down and in the showdown two vans drove off one of them carrying him. Unfortunately they chased the wrong one and when they found out it was too late to know where the other one had gone. They'd searched for months for him but kept coming up with no leads.

In the end top brass had told them to close the case but they'd carried on searching in secret. As the years had dragged on everyone had lost hope in ever bringing him home alive. All apart from him. He just couldn't. His heart wouldn't handle it. He'd hold onto hope no matter how futile until the day they actually found him.

The man next to him heard his cries and it tore at his heart but he had no idea why. He had to console this man but he had no idea who he was.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" he asked tenderly.

Spencer jumped but that voice was so familiar. He turned over to look at him and his eyes widened. It couldn't be but if you took the long hair and beard away he looked so much like Aaron. His eyes had to be deceiving him. It had to be a trick of his heart. He closed his eyes then reopened them but he was still there.

"Aaron," he exclaimed.

He looked back at him confused. He'd been called so many names he could hardly remember what his name was but that name sounded familiar. Was it his real name or just another one of the names his captors had called him as they admitted him in hospital yet again?

He didn't admit to this young man who looked vaguely familiar that he didn't know his own name or who he was so he answered, "That's not my name."

"Yes it is, you're Aaron Hotchner," Spencer answered on the verge of tears. Why couldn't he remember him? What had they done to him? Had he forgotten who he was? It felt like he was being stabbed in his heart.

He shook his head. This was all so confusing. He just wanted to go home where he felt safe. "I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone else."

"No," Spencer cried turning away feeling like he was stuck in a nightmare. He couldn't have forgotten everything. He just couldn't have.

A woman came in and smiled at him. "You ready to come home, sweetheart?"

He nodded and got up allowing her to help him change into his clothes numbly. Spencer couldn't drag his eyes away from them after turning back upon hearing her voice. There were the scars he'd never seen on his stomach but had known were there mixed amongst other scars and bruises all over his torso.

"I hope you find your friend," he said tenderly smiling slightly at him.

The woman smiled at him and snarled quietly, "Yes, I hope you find your friend too..." She then turned to the man and added, "Let's go home, Scott."

Spencer tried to get out of the bed but it pulled him back and the pain in his neck became too much. He kept struggling to get out of bed while they walked off with the woman smiling back at him occasionally. He couldn't lose him again.

When he lost sight of them he sunk back crying resolving to raise the alert as soon as the team got here. Now he'd seen him he just couldn't lose him again.