TRIBULATIONS

By hatochiisai

Disclaimer: I do not own "Criminal Minds" or any of the characters of the show.

Reidcentric

WARNING: This work includes nonconsensual homosexual intercourse.

Chapter 15

ONE MONTH LATER

"Good morning!" Reid called out, walking into the BAU with Agent Hotchner.

"Hey, Pretty Boy!" Morgan greeted, making himself some coffee. "Welcome back to active duty!"

"Hey Reid." Garcia said from where she stood with Prentiss and JJ. They were looking at pictures of Henry.

"So… I found a new apartment last night." Reid said, grinning. "It's a lot closer to work."

"Oh? Where?" Emily asked, grinning. She and the girls walked over to Reid.

"I take it Aaron will be happy to have his guest room back?" Rossi asked, chuckling at Hotchner who raised an eyebrow.

"Very much so, yes." He said. Reid scoffed, looking at Hotch.

"Yeah right. Like you were using it for anything." He snorted. Hotch looked at Reid and smirked.

"… That's none of your business." He said. Reid blinked and frowned apprehensively.

"Why am I getting a bad feeling about this… You know what? I think I'll sleep in YOUR bed tonight…" Reid said. The corners of Hotch's mouth twitched. Dammit… he couldn't help it…

"… Are you propositioning me?" He asked and everyone stared, amazed at what had just come out of Hotch's mouth.

"… What?!"

"Well, you just said that you wanted to sleep in my bed. I hope you don't assume that I WOULDN'T be sleeping in my own bed…" Hotchner pointed out. Reid sputtered awkwardly, turning red. The team burst out laughing. After a moment, even Hotch grinned and chuckled, clapping Reid on the shoulder. Then he turned and headed to his office. Reid watched him go, then frowned and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I think you've been stayin with him for WAY too long, kid." Morgan observed, grinning.

"… A month." Reid said, nodding. "But I signed the lease last night, and I can start moving in tomorrow."

"Well hey. Tomorrow is Saturday." Morgan said. "I'll give you a hand."

"And we'll help you decorate." JJ said with a smile. "Make it into a real home."

And the next day, they did. Hotch and Reid were woken by a pounding on the door. Hotch wasn't sure how he felt when he found the whole team on his doorstep, as well as Will wearing baby Henry in a pouch on his chest.

"Mornin' boys." Morgan said, grinning.

"… Hi." Reid said, blinking and rubbing his eyes, then yawning. "… Elle! Gideon! What are you doing here? I thought you went home."

"Aaron called. Said you had a new place." Gideon said.

"We came in for the weekend to help you move." Elle said, smiling. Reid blinked.

"Wow… Thanks." He said, yawning again.

"Awwww… he looks so cute when he first wakes up!" Garcia cooed.

"He looks like an eleven year old who should be sitting down to Saturday morning cartoons with a bowl of Fruit Loops." JJ laughed. Reid made a face, then turned and shuffled away. Hotch blinked, and closed the door.

"HEY!" Morgan shouted, banging on it. "Hotch! Come on, man!"

Rossi chuckled, opening the door and walking in. The team followed.

"Stay out of my kitchen, Morgan." Hotch said, walking up the stairs. Morgan snorted… he was wanting to see what Hotch kept around to snack on… Garcia winked at him and waltzed into the kitchen... after all... Hotch hadn't told HER to stay out... The rest of the team waited politely until Hotch and Reid came downstairs. Reid was in jeans and an FBI Academy sweatshirt, and Hotch in Jeans, t shirt and jacket. Reid had his messenger bag, and Hotch was carrying a duffel bag that contained all they had managed to salvage from Reid's old apartment.

"Okay. Let's go." Hotchner said, and they all went outside. Reid blinked.

"Why do we need a… FLEET of cars." He said, staring at the three SUV's.

"We're buying you furniture, remember?" Emily asked. "You got the check from your insurance company?"

"… Uh, yeah." Reid said with a nod.

"So let's go." JJ said.

"Shopping!" Garcia cheered, and the girls dragged Reid to one of the SUV's. Rossi, Hotch, Morgan, Will and Gideon watched, smirking at Reid's stammered protests.

"I feel kinda sorry for'm." Will said, grinning. "He brings out the mother'n JJ."

"He does that with all the girls." Hotch snorted. "He's the baby." Will chuckled.

"Like I said… I feel sorry for'm." The men chuckled and Will went with Morgan, and Rossi and Gideon went with Hotch.

"How's he doing, Aaron?" Gideon asked when they got onto the road.

"He had a bit of a relapse with the water in his lungs, but he recovered quickly. He's in high spirits. His nightmares aren't as bad. He's been dealing with it well. I've kept a close eye on him. He's been going to the Clean Cops meetings because he's afraid of the Dilaudid… They told him that what happened doesn't count against him because he was basically forced, but… you know Reid."

"… Yeah." Gideon said.

"… He's doing fine, Jason." Hotchner assured the elder man. "He's been cleared by the doctors to come back to work. He's ready to come back. He's been wanting to for weeks."

"… He's been driving you crazy, hasn't he?" Gideon asked, grinning.

"If I hear him spout off one more statistic at the dinner table…" Hotch grumbled, and Gideon and Rossi chuckled.

"He's a good kid." Rossi said.

"He is." Gideon and Hotch both agreed.

Will, Rossi, Hotch, Gideon and Morgan sat in a line on the large leather sofa at the furniture store, watching the girls drag Reid around the place, shoving him down onto sofas, asking how he liked it, and then dragging him off again.

"… Remind me not to ask the team for help if I ever move." Rossi said.

"As long as you're not buying new furniture, you should be fine." Gideon said, smiling. They watched as Reid finally made a decision on a living room set, and they dragged him off to pick a dining set. Fifteen minutes later, he appeared and dropped into the sofa across from the men.

"Remind me why I agreed to this?" He groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Because you're young and inexperienced." Morgan said. "You had NO idea what you were getting yourself into."

"Obviously." Reid said, leaning back into the sofa. "I told them to pick one for me."

"Just wait 'til they take you t'pick out linens and towels." Will said, grinning. Reid groaned. Will was right. They ended up at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Well, Reid and the women did. The men decided to ditch the poor boy and take his furniture to his new apartment and get it moved in…

Reid was in that store with the girls for almost five hours.

"What the hell do I need a ladle for?! Or a salad spinner?! Or a… a… what the hell is this?" He grumbled.

"Meat Mallet."

"… Meat Mallet. It's a murder weapon." Reid said, taking it out and ditching it on the nearest shelf between a blender and a food processor. Then he engaged in a thorough argument with the girls over all the kitchen supplies that they insisted that he needed, but that he argued he never had, nor ever would use. In the end, Reid won the argument, but only because he pointed out that HE was the one paying, and that all of this stuff didn't fit in his budget… and besides... Why the hell did he need a bread box?!

He wanted to cry when the girls moved on to picking out curtains… They had to be this color in the bedroom to match his bed set… they had to be this color in the living room to match the décor there… Reid told them, and I quote, 'fuck it', everything was going to be decorate the same to spare his sanity and they could just deal with it. The women just looked at him, then got back to picking out the curtains. And wall art. He apparently HAD to have wall art. Reid just groaned and let them drag him around. He jumped at the chance to ditch them when his phone rang.

"Hey Hotch."

"How are you doing, Reid?"

"… I uh… They're picking out curtains." Reid grumbled.

"… You sound like you're getting married." Hotch chuckled.

"If this is what you go through when you get married, I think I'll stay single." Reid said, smiling slightly. Hotch grinned on the other end.

"Well, we have the furniture in here. We're going to get some lunch. What do you want?"

"A mouthful of hot lead." Reid snorted, and Hotch chuckled again.

"Chinese food it is, then."

"Whatever."

"How soon will you be back?"

"Hopefully before I turn fifty." Hotch chuckled again. "… By five."

"Okay." Hotch said, and hung up. Reid turned and walked back to the girls.

"We have to be back in an hour and a half." He told them, then grunted as Garcia shoved several throw pillows into his arms. He sighed and drooped, following after them and listening to them argue about each object, and whether it was or was not, Reid. After giving up on trying to figure out how he could be personified by one soap dish over another, he finally managed to herd them and the three shopping carts (wait… no… Garcia was running after them with cart number FOUR), into the checkout lane.

Reid just handed his card to Elle and told her to pay, and NOT to tell him how much the total was. He waited until the cashier finished with the first cart (sending Reid sympathetic looks), then took it out to the car. He unloaded it, then waited for the girls to come out with the others.

"Here." Elle said, giving Reid a guilty smile. He took the card and tucked the three and a half foot long receipt into his pocket, refusing to look at it. They finished loading the car and headed to Reid's new apartment.

"Ohhh… This is NICE!" Emily exclaimed when they got there.

"… Yeah. Nice." Reid said, shrugging. "Second floor." He said.

"Obviously." Elle laughed. "You live over a coffee shop?"

"It's a loft." Reid said with another shrug.

"… Figures." JJ giggled.

Rossi, Gideon, Hotch and Morgan came downstairs to help unload the car. Morgan stared. "Damn." He said, upon seeing how much… crap there was. It filled the trunk, the floor around the girls' feet, and they were even holding boxes and bags in their laps. Reid picked up a box of dishes and carried it up the stairs and into his new apartment… loft… whatever. The walls were dark red brick, and it was all one long room with high ceilings.

"I wondered why you wanted EVERYTHING to match." Elle said looking around, then moving into the kitchen area. Reid sighed and hopped up onto the counter, watching as the girls immediately took charge. They shoved the dining table up against the island which separated the kitchen from the rest of the place, then set up the sofa in the middle of the room on top of the dark red rug. The men had already put together the king sized bed against the very back wall (reid still didn't understand why he needed a king, he slept alone for God's sake!). There were doors on either side, one leading to a closet, the other to the bathroom. In the corner was a black iron spiral staircase leading to a rooftop patio... Garcia was upset that Reid had neglected to tell them about that. Reid defended himself saying that the last thing on his mind was patio furniture, then proceeded to unpack what books he had saved from his old apartment and began to neatly put them away on the bookshelves built into the walls on either side of the fire place that Emily decided made this loft perfect for Reid. Apparently, she could see him curling up in front of a fire with a good book on a cold winter night. Reid neglected to mention that he tried to avoid playing with fire and really didn't intend to use the fire place very much... About the time they finished unloading the car, Will got back with the Chinese food. They carried it up and all sat down to eat.

"Awwww… He can finally use them!" Emily teased Reid, ruffling his hair as he ate with the chopsticks. Reid wrinkled his nose at her, smoothing his hair back.

"… This is a cool place, Reid." Morgan said, looking around. Reid smiled and nodded. "But… why a loft?"

"Well… for one, it's only two miles from the BAU…" Reid said. "Two, it's right over a coffee shop…" The group snickered. "And three… It's wide open. No where for someone to hide, save for the closet and bathroom. No one can sneak up on me. That and they have a newly installed security alarm." The group was quiet at that. It wasn't remotely funny…

"Reid… Ryan is dead." Morgan said. "They're all dead."

"I know. But that doesn't mean that something similar can't ever happen." Reid pointed out. "You never know. Maybe they have a deranged cousin or something."

"They don't." Garcia chirped into her fried rice. Reid rolled his eyes.

"That's not the point." He said. No one responded. JJ turned to stick a spoon of baby food into little Henry's mouth. Reid watched, smiling slightly.

The group stayed late into the night. Reid was surprised. With ten sets of hands, he had managed to move in and get settled in one day. Morgan and Will were very handy, and had hung the curtains. They had been patient with the girls telling them just how they should be hung. By midnight, Rossi was taking out the last bag of trash. Reid sighed, looking around.

"I feel like I'm in a Martha Stuart magazine." He said.

"Awww… Thank you." Garcia said, pinching his cheek. "We appreciate that." And the girls laughed. Morgan, Rossi and Hotch rolled their eyes, which made Gideon laugh to himself. He looked at Reid.

"… I guess we'll leave you to settle in then, Spencer." He said. Reid smiled and nodded, watching JJ gather up little Henry who had been put down to sleep in the middle of Reid's bed in a blanket nest.

"Thanks everyone." Reid said. Slowly the group filed out, either hugging him, patting him on the back or squeezing his shoulder. Hotch was the last to leave.

"Reid." He said. "I got you something." He said, and pulled a box out of the kitchen cabinet. Reid blinked. "It's a handgun safe." Hotch explained, handing Reid the metal box. "So you never have to stare down the barrel of your own gun again." Reid stared down at the box, then looked up.

"Hotch… Thanks." He said, and smiled. "Thank you." Hotch nodded.

"We'll check on you tomorrow afternoon. Will you be okay here alone?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Reid said, nodding. "Thanks Hotch." Hotchner nodded at Reid, gripping his shoulder for a moment.

"If you need anything, you have my number."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Goodnight, Reid."

"… Night." Reid said, and closed the door behind him. He locked the door, set the alarm, and locked his gun in the gun safe. Then he walked across the loft, turning out the lights. He went into the bathroom, showered and changed into his pajamas. He went back out in the loft and looked around, then closed the curtains. The only source of light was the small lamp by his bed.

Reid slowly walked across the room and sat down on the bed, reaching into his messenger back. He pulled out the photo of his mother, and the photo of him, Hotch, Gideon and Morgan on the jet. He smiled at them, then set them out on his bedside table. He blinked. There was something else in his messenger bag. Reid pulled it out. It was gift wrapped. Blinking, Reid tore off the paper. Inside was a framed photo.

It was the team. Reid recognized it. Several moths ago, there had been a Bureau Holiday Banquet. It was a photo of the BAU team, all smiling happily in their suits and evening gowns holding glasses of champagne…

Hotch and Rossi were on each end. JJ and Will were next to Hotch, Kevin and Garcia were next to Rossi. In the middle were Reid, Morgan and Emily. Morgan had his arm around Emily and was dipping her back as if dancing. Her face was laughing and she was clutching her champagne glass in one hand, and Reid's arm in another, trying not to fall over. Reid was half laughing as well. He smiled as he stared at the picture. Slowly, he placed it by the others and slid under the blankets of the bed, staring at it for a long time.

Finally, he reached out and turned off the light. He laid his head down on the pillows, pulling the blankets up over him. He curled up, snuggling down into the bed that smelled pleasantly of Febreeze, courtesy of Emily…

He was safe. They were dead.

Graham Vanderwal. He had shot him to death himself.

Neil Vanderwal. He had blown himself up trying to kill Reid to avenge his brother.

Ryan Vanderwal. He had bled to death on the way to the hospital.

They were all gone. Reid was safe.

He sighed and closed his eyes, and slipped into sleep.

This time, there were no nightmares.

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